(Reuters) – Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu said their sacrifices over the years were finally paying off after they won the Women’s Twenty20 Asia Cup for the first time by beating seven-time champions India by eight wickets in Dambulla on Sunday.

India, who have beaten Sri Lanka in five previous finals, including the first four editions of the tournament played in 50 overs format, batted first and posted 165-6.

India’s opening innings were dismissed by all-rounder Kavisha Dilhari who took 2-36.

In reply, Athapaththu (61) gave hosts Sri Lanka a flying start by taking the second wicket with his 87-run partnership with player of the match Harshitha Samarawickrama.

Dilhari (30 runs) and Samarawickrama (69 runs) took Sri Lanka to the finish line with a score of 167-2 in the last eight balls.

“We have made a lot of sacrifices in the last 10-15 years. Finally, we have won this award, this trophy,” said series player Athapaththu.

“We’ve played some really good cricket in the last 12 months. We’ve beaten England, South Africa, West Indies, New Zealand. We’ve won the World Cup qualifiers and now we’ve won the Asia Cup.”

(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)